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A Great-tailed Grackle and (maybe?) a couple Starlings, perched

I managed to try-try again!

A week ago, I got a chance to go back out to Lake Elsinore (see my last post for details). I think I took something like 400 pictures, and have finally whittled it down to the best ones. I was out for a couple of hours, really just learning the settings on my camera. I think I figured out that some of the earlier shots were over-exposed (my ISO was too high I think), and some of the later ones were a little under-exposed.

I think it will just take me some time to get a feel for the different settings in different conditions. I also learned a good deal about the editing software I use (Corel AfterShot and PaintShop Pro), so some of the later ones ended up looking better.

This was an awesome experience - and a super relaxing one, at that. Especially when watching the Egrets do their business! I hope you enjoy.

American White Pelican

I followed this, and another, Pelican for most of the morning. It, and the Egrets, were so majestic!

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American White Pelican, swimming

 

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American White Pelican, swimming

American Coot

I also caught a good picture of this little guy reaching its neck out and eating a bug, but this picture came out better.

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American Coot, swimming

Black-necked Stilt

This was my first attempt at catching a bird in-flight. It came out a little rough - out of focus, a little blurry from the motion, but I still really like it :)

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Black-necked Stilt, flying

Great Blue Heron

Along with the Pelicans and the Egrets, I followed this fella around for a bit. It was so fun sitting and watching him do his thing. If I recall, he was making a ton of noise too! I’m probably the proudest of these pictures. I wish they were a little sharper, but that I was able to capture this at all is awesome to me, still.

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Great Blue Heron, flying

 

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Great Blue Heron, walking

Great Egret

When I first walked into the Levee area, it was a little quiet. I was afraid I was too early! The gulls weren’t in the sky, I didn’t see any ducks or other waterfowl, nothing. Then, I rounded a corner, and this and a Snowy Egret were the first birds I spotted. It felt so magical! I had so many pictures of this guy that didn’t make the cut, but it was so fun learning how to not only get pictures of him, but learning how to approach without scaring him, too. Because my 300mm lens isn’t the best in the world, it was important to get as close as I could.

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Great Egret, standing

 

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Great Egret, flying

Greater Yellowlegs

I only wish I had been on the other side of this bird before I got the picture. I’m sure if I were to go back and edit this, I could make some small adjustments in specific areas (when I edited it, I wasn’t quite sure how best to do that yet), but I still like how it came out.

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Greater Yellowlegs, standing

Herring Gull

Here’s a number of shots of a few gulls! These guys were great “target practice”. Especially the shots here of one flying. One of them took off in front of me and just kept circling me (fairly fast, too - it was kinda magical not gonna lie) and I took that as an opportunity to practice getting better at taking pictures of objects in motion!

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Herring Gull, flying

 

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Herring Gull, flying

 

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Herring Gull, pondering lol

 

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Herring Gull, standing

Mallard

There was a shot of a female that I got, too, but this one was 100x better.

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Mallard, swimming

Northern Shoveler

I know with animals you’re really supposed to try and get them in full-frame, but I just loved the colors of the plants behind him.

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Northern Shoveler, swimming

Snowy Egret

I actually thought this was another Great Egret at first. I’m glad I didn’t delete this picture!!

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Snowy Egret

Spotted Sandpiper

I’m only 90% sure this is a sandpiper. Same thing here with the full-frame “rule”. I kept to the rule of thirds (mostly), but just kinda liked the angle of things.

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Spotted Sandpiper

Miscellaneous

I was never able to find out what this flock was, but it was incredible watching them move. I don’t think I got a single “good” shot, but wanted to share one of the better ones that came out of this practice.

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Flock in flight

Take care,

- D.